While the world was waiting for a democratic and just Syria after Bashar al-Assad, what is happening today in Aleppo is a bitter test of that hope. Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, two Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, have been under attack for four days by armed forces affiliated with the Turkish state. These neighborhoods, which for decades were examples of peaceful coexistence, are now subjected to an inhumane assault and siege. The violence is carried out by militias backed by Turkey, but in the name of the “new Syrian government.”
Over the past four days, four armed groups ‘whose names are recorded in war-crimes files’ have launched attacks: the Sultan Murad Division, the Amshat (Sultan Suleiman Shah) Division, the Hamza Division, and the Nour al-Din al-Zengi Movement. All have notorious records and are listed on international blacklists.
In 2023, the United States designated two of these groups and their leaders as terrorist organizations. The United Nations has also documented numerous human rights violations committed by them, including targeted killings, ethnic massacres, sexual violence against minorities, and systematic looting in Afrin and Manbij.
These armed groups are only nominally part of the new Syrian army. In reality, they are political assets of Turkey: their salaries are paid from Ankara, their training takes place in Turkey, and their commanders are guests of Turkish officials.
Preventing medicine, food, and fuel from reaching tens of thousands of people including children and the elderly is not only inhumane policy but, under international law, a war crime. Siege is a tool to destroy the flow of life and humiliate a population whose only “crime” is being Kurdish.
For years, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh stood as examples of peaceful coexistence in a region rife with ethnic and sectarian tensions. During the battle for Aleppo, these neighborhoods opened their doors to tens of thousands of displaced Arabs and Turkmen. Today, that spirit of humanity is being answered with siege.
What is unfolding in Aleppo is a clear example of the worst form of power exercised by both the new Syrian government and the Turkish state; both are complicit in this crime through their provision of weapons and armed forces. This is a calculated and deliberate policy: sacrificing Kurdish civilians while attempting to wash their own hands of blood. Silence in the face of this oppression is participation in it.
Several urgent demands must be implemented immediately:
The siege of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh must be lifted at once.
All military attacks against civilians in these two neighborhoods must cease.
A humanitarian corridor must be opened to deliver medical and food aid.
After these initial demands are met, independent international investigations into war crimes must be conducted, and perpetrators must be prosecuted under international law.
The flow of weapons and support to militias designated as terrorist groups must be halted, and political and economic pressure must be placed on Turkey to end its support for these groups.
Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are not merely two points on a map; they are symbols of the will to live and to defend human dignity in the heart of fire. Every time a militia blocks a street, every time a child dies of hunger, every time a sick person is denied access to medicine, our world moves one step further away from humanity.
According to a Reuters report, these same groups were involved last year in the massacre of Alawites and Druze. What is happening in Syria today shows that Turkish-backed militias operate outside the sovereignty of the Damascus government, as their logistical and financial support comes from Ankara. They are treated less as part of the Syrian army and more as Turkish assets. The city of Aleppo is under the control of forces loyal to Ahmad al-Sharaa as much as it is under the influence of groups backed by Turkey. This means that the siege is a joint decision by two states and a form of political collusion. A blockade that prevents medicine, food, and fuel from reaching an area filled with children and the elderly is a war crime. Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are not just two neighborhoods in Aleppo; they are symbols of the Kurdish people’s determination to defend life and dignity in this city.
